Reflective Essay
Introduction
The reflective assignment involves a comparison between my interviewee’s childhood and sociological theories relating to how the environment shapes people as they grow within a community. It will also include an overview of how the interviewee’s childhood life compares to my personal life. When interviewing my friend, I realized that in some ways, her life was a reflection of mine, but in many other aspects, we differed significantly. Regardless, our societies influenced how we grew up and the kind of childhood we had.
Introduction of my Interviewee
I could have interviewed any person, but one whose childhood I found particularly interesting is one of my friends of Chinese descent. We attend the same college, and she had mentioned her life during some of our usual discussions, which made it quite interesting to listen. Consequently, I thought about her immediately the instructor asked us to conduct the interview and write the essay. During the interview, I realized the impact of social forces on one’s childhood and how much her experience was similar but also differed from mine.
Sociological Comparison
Sociological theories provide a strong basis for understanding a person’s childhood. Marxist classed society is one of the theories that emerged during our discussion as having a leading impact on my interviewee’s social reality. The theory suggests that society is stratified into three main classes, low-, middle-, and high class (Bertaux & Thompson 2017). She was born and raised within the working class, which denied her various opportunities in life, such as regular shopping which is common among children raised in the middle- and high-class. However, unlike the typical low-income family, my friend’s parents ensured that she got a quality education. She attended the same school with many children from middle-income families.
Another element of the comparison is on the way my interviewee’s parents defied the classed limitations to provide a good life for their only daughter. Sociological theories suggest that many working-class families lack the resources to provide a quality life for their children and that many continue the cycle of poverty (Clark et al. 2015; Clegg 2017). Although it was amid struggle, my friend’s parents were determined to break the cycle by educating their child. She was the hope for the family to achieve social mobility, which informed their sacrifice. I have learned that my friend is determined to have the best that society offers through her education. She could break the cycle for her family.
Comparison from a Personal Perspective
The interview has taught me that nobody can escape the reality of their social environment. The place where one is born and raised has critical implications on the way the person experiences childhood (Stephens, Markus & Phillips 2014; GarcĆa & Weiss, 2015). Consequently, although I am not an immigrant, and I grew up in a middle-income family, I could relate to my friend’s experience. While she experienced pressure to achieve social mobility, I was also pressurized to work hard to ensure that I maintained the family standards. My parents would not condone failure. Therefore, I had to ensure that my grades were good after every assessment. Therefore, I realized that the class struggle is common for most children in the country.
However, my life differed in many ways from my friend’s life because of the classed privilege. For example, my parents could afford some luxuries for me, such as regular shopping and visiting the zoo and the park. Social class played a critical role in the lived experiences, as Levine & Scotch (2017) affirms, because of the availability of the resources to support the luxurious living, at least for the middle- and high-income families. Besides, although we both had the opportunity to get an education, my ability to access quality resources was better compared to that of my friend. Her parents struggled to provide the basic educational requirements, while mine could easily afford them. Although the limitation did not deter her determination, it has an impact on how she experienced her childhood.
Conclusion
The comparison, just like the interview itself, has provided me with an opportunity to reflect on society and how lived experiences affect children. When conducting the interview, I could think about how the theories aligned with my friend’s reality in life and how hers compared to my experience. I was raised in her middle-income family but still experienced classed anxiety because of the demands from my parents to work hard and maintain the family standards. Similarly, my friend’s family pressurized her to work hard to achieve social mobility. The main takeaway from the interview and reflection is that the classed society is a predictor of social anxiety that affects children and adults.
Reference List
Bertaux D & Thompson P 2017, Pathways to social class: A qualitative approach to social mobility. Routledge, New York.
Clark G, Cummins N, Hao Y & Vidal DD 2015. The son also rises: Surnames and the history of social mobility. Princeton University Press, Princeton
Clegg SR (Ed.) 2017, Organization theory and class analysis: New approaches and new issues (Vol. 17). Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG.
GarcĆa E & Weiss E 2015, Early education gaps by social class and race start us children out on unequal footing: a summary of the major findings in” inequalities at the starting gate”. Economic Policy Institute.
Levine S & Scotch NA 2017, Social stress. In Social stress (pp. 1-16). Routledge, New York
Stephens NM, Markus HR & Phillips T 2014, ‘Social class culture cycles: How three gateway contexts shape selves and fuel inequality’, Annual Review of Psychology, vol. 65, pp. 611-634.
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